Highschool Life
by goyankeesbooredsox
Summary: Title says it all. pairings will be: sasusaku, nejiten, naruhina, shikaino, gaaraoc, kibaoc.
1. New Friends, New Enemies

Hey pplz! I've always loved reading high school fan fics so I decided to try to write one myself. Let me know what you think!

I don't own any of the Naruto characters 

"Talking"

'Thinking'

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BEEP, BEEP, BEEP! "Ugh! Stupid alarm clock, SHUT UP!" a sixteen-year-old, pink-haired girl yelled. Then Sakura froze. "Oh no, it's my first day of school!"

Sakura jumped out of bed and raced for the shower. She quickly washed and dried her hair. 'Hmm, what should I wear today?' she wondered. She spotted a pair of black jeans and a tight pink shirt. 'Perfect!'

Sakura pulled the clothes on then attached chains to her jeans around her waist. She wore a choker that had a black band around her throat and a pink cherry blossom charm dangling off of it. Sakura then put on black mascara and eyeliner (Sakura isn't a big make-up person), and to complete the outfit, she dyed the bangs framing her face black.

She gazed happily at her reflection in the mirror. 'Nothing like a good first impression,' Sakura thought, glancing at the clock. "Oh shit, I'm going to be late!" she exclaimed out loud. She ran down the stairs and grabbed her pink and black messenger bag.

As she was crossing the street, a black convertible nearly hit her. "Hey, watch it jerk!" Sakura yelled at the raven-haired boy driving the car. "You watch where you walk," the boy replied, smirking, then drove off again. Sakura finished her walk to school still grumbling

When she got to the gate, she realized she didn't know anybody. All of her friends were back at her old village. Just then a blue-eyed girl with blond hair in a pony tail walked up to Sakura.

"Hey, you must be new. I've never seen anyone with hair color like that. By the way, my name's Ino Yamanaka." Sakura just stared at the girl for a few seconds but then replied, "I'm Sakura Haruno." "Cool name. Follow me and I'll introduce you to my friends."

Ino grabbed Sakura's hand and dragged her over to a group of girls. "Hey everyone! This is Sakura." Six heads turned to stare at Sakura as she waved shyly. "The really tall blond girl with green eyes is Leonie." Leonie waved. "And the tall, black-haired girl next to her is Rebecca. Those two are the best of friends and completely inseparable. They're known as the Trouble Twins because anyone who's been stupid enough to fight either one of them has ended up in the hospital. One almost died when he challenged both of them." A fierce-looking girl waved at Sakura. "The girl with pale eyes and bluish hair is Hinata." "N-nice to m-m-meet y-you." "Hinata tends to stutter before she knows someone. Once she gets to know you though, her stuttering will decrease," Ino whispered to Sakura. "And the girl with buns is Tenten." The chocolate-haired girl waved cheerfully. "And last is Temari." A girl with four blond pony tails waved at Sakura.

"Ouch!" yelled Tenten, rubbing the spot where a pebble had connected with her head. She whirled and glared at the group of boys behind them. Beside Sakura, Ino tensed up.

"That's the group of the most popular boys at school: Sasuke Uchiha, Neji Hyuuga, Naruto Uzumaki, Shikamaru Nara, Kiba Inuzuka, and Temari's brother, Sabaku no Gaara. The only ones who have ever stood up to them are Rebecca and Leonie. 'Course, everyone in school pretty much stay away from them."

Sakura gasped as she recognized Sasuke as the jerk who almost hit her this morning while she was walking to school. "So Sasuke's his name," Sakura muttered. Ino gave her a questioning look. "He almost ran me over this morning," Sakura informed the other girl and turned her attention back to the others.

"What?" Neji was asking innocently. "You damn well know what Hyuuga!" Rebecca and Leonie snarled in unison, glaring daggers. The boys quickly retreated after seeing the pissed looks on the two girls' faces. Leonie didn't look particularly fierce, but she could be incredibly intimidating when she wanted to be.

"Jerks," Temari muttered at their retreating backs. "Come on Sakura, let's go get your schedule," Ino said, dragging Sakura to the main building.

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So ends chapter one. let me know what you think of it!


	2. A Disasturous Science Period

Sorry in advance people if it takes me a little while longer to update than it normally does. School is finally kicking in and I'm being piled with homework.

Recap

"Jerks," Temari muttered at their retreating backs. "Come on Sakura, let's go get your schedule," Ino said, dragging Sakura to the main building.

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"…and here is your schedule and locker information," said a tall, blond woman. "Thank you Tsunade-sama," Rebecca replied. She walked out of the office and into an impatient Ino.

"Let me see your schedule!" she squealed. "Let's see, ooh, you're lucky! You've got Rebecca and Leonie in all your classes. I should warn you though. Sasuke and Gaara have all their classes with them too." "Great," Sakura muttered.

"Watch yourself. Each member of that group has a vicious fan club. But I'll be in your homeroom to help you out a little."

The two girls walked into a classroom. Inside, the teacher was a silver-haired man with a head band covering his left eye. "You're late," he commented in a lazy voice. "I was helping Sakura. She's new," Ino explained. The teacher nodded. "Very well, Ino take your seat. New girl, introduce yourself."

Sakura bristled at the teacher's name on the inside but replied pleasantly, "I'm Sakura Haruno." "Well then, Miss Haruno, I'm Kakashi Hatake. You may choose your own seat." Sakura hurried over to the desk next to Ino. Sakura breathed a sigh of relief as she was removed from the center of attention.

"Hey Pinky, you following my advice?" asked a smooth voice from behind her. Sakura twitched in annoyance at the name the boy had given her. She grew even more annoyed as she saw it was Sasuke and Co. behind her. Sasuke, Neji, and Gaara were in the front and smirking.

"What do you want bastard?" Sakura spat, glaring. Sasuke stared at her. "You heard her," came the pissed off voice of Rebecca. Sakura turned to look at her.

Rebecca was tense and ready for a fight. "Stay out of this, Hakugichi (that's Rebecca's clan name for those of you who can't figure that out)," said Gaara in a cold, emotionless voice. Rebecca fixed her piercing gaze on his eyes. "She's my friend. Anyone who messes with her, messes with me," Rebecca stated fiercely, finally going into her fighting stance.

Rebecca's P.O.V.

'Omg, omg, omg! I'm staring into the eyes of the guy I like and he's staring back,' I thought, freaking out on the inside. Only the inside, I never showed any type of weakness to anyone.

I felt adrenaline running as my anticipation for a fight rose. My muscles started trembling from the sheer amount of energy running through my veins. Leonie apparently noticed this because she put a hand on my shoulder and whispered into my ear, "Cool it."

Everyone knew Leonie was the only one who could control my infamous temper. If I got mad enough, my power exploded and I killed the person who made me mad. That's how I got expelled from my last school. The principal also expelled Leonie because she hadn't tried to control my temper. Personally, I think that's bull shit, but oh well, back to the present. I slowly relaxed, still glaring into Gaara's eyes.

Normal P.O.V.

Leonie pulled Rebecca away from her death glare match with Gaara. The boys walked back to their seats and were instantly swarmed by fan girls. Sakura almost felt sorry for them. Almost. There were worse things in life.

'Look at my life,' Sakura thought bitterly. 'My parents were murdered and I just got shifted from family member to family member until they ran out of people to send me to. Then they simply kicked me out to live on my own.' The bell that signaled the end to homeroom jolted Sakura out of her thoughts.

She ran to catch up with Rebecca and Leonie. "What do we have next?" she asked a little breathlessly. "Science," Rebecca replied shortly. Sakura noticed that she was still a little tense from her encounter with Gaara.

The three of them walked into the classroom together and sat down. "Okay kiddies, listen up! I'm Anko, your one and only science teacher. We're going to start the year off by doing a project in partners and finding stuff out about that person," a tall lady with short black hair yelled to the class. Rebecca and Leonie scooted a little closer to each other.

Anko smiled evilly. "I pick your partners." "What!" yelled almost the entire class. Everyone started glancing at Rebecca and Leonie. They may have been two of the hottest girls in school, but if you made them mad, your face would never look the same.

Anko called out a couple of pairs. "Next…let's see, Gaara and…" All of Gaara's fan girls held their breath. "Rebecca." "What!" yelled the fan girls and Rebecca. Gaara just stared at Anko as if she was crazy. Rebecca started glaring at him again, and he glared too. Anko called out another pair, "Next is Kiba and…Leonie!" They repeated the same process as before, only Kiba yelled along with the girls.

Rebecca and Leonie moaned, "I'm doomed!" Anko kept calling out names until there were only Sasuke, Sakura, and two of Sasuke's fan girls left. "Next is Sasuke and…" 'Please not me, please not me!' Sakura pleaded over and over in her head.

"…and…" "Cut with the suspense!" yelled one of the girls still left. Anko smiled evilly again. "As you wish, Sasuke and Sakura." That simple statement sent the entire room into utter chaos.

Leonie and Rebecca moved to protect a frozen Sakura from Sasuke's furious fan girls. "Class, calm down!" Anko screamed. Order slowly returned to the room. Many of the fan girls who had tried to attack Sakura were sporting bloody lips, broken or bloody noses, or black eyes.

Rebecca had a scratch down her cheek where one of the girls had succeeded in scratching her. Leonie had a split lip. Just then the bell rang again, signaling the end of the period. 'My life is officially over!' Rebecca complained in her head as she followed Rebecca and Leonie out the door and to the next class.

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Hope you people enjoyed this chapter. Plz review!


	3. Gaara and Rebecca's Interview

Hey people. I finally got some inspiration for the next chapter. School has been stealing all of my brain cells so it might take a while for the next update.

Recap

Rebecca had a scratch down her cheek where one of the girls had succeeded in scratching her. Leonie had a split lip. Just then the bell rang again, signaling the end of the period. 'My life is officially over!' Sakura complained in her head as she followed Rebecca and Leonie out the door and to the next class.

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Sakura couldn't stop thinking about her rotten luck all during math. Sasuke's fan girls kept shooting her death glares. Sakura glared back at them and then rolled her eyes. Those fan girls were so possessive even when they didn't even have him yet.

Rebecca wasn't faring much better either. Although Rebecca secretly had a crush on Gaara, she and he had been arch rivals since last year. 'Man, my old school in the United States was so much better than this. If only mom hadn't made us move so far after I was expelled. But no. She said that we had to go really far because I already had a reputation in all the other district schools and there was a better job opportunity in Japan,' Rebecca thought grumpily.

Leonie wasn't much happier than Rebecca. 'At least when we were expelled Rebecca's mom was willing to take me along too. But I have to get stuck with Kiba. He's a stupid arrogant jerk,' Leonie thought.

All three girls were pissed, to say the least. All of them hated their partners and all of them hated their partner's fan clubs.

Just then the bell rang and all the kids stampeded out of the room except for Sakura, Rebecca, and Leonie. Their feet dragged along the tiled floor as they walked to their lockers. When Rebecca opened her locker, a note fluttered out. She picked it up and read it.

_Meet me under the sakura tree in the courtyard. We're going over to my house to work on the project._

_-Gaara_

'Oh this is perfect. Well, he'll just have to wait a little because I'm not leaving without saying good bye to my friends,' Rebecca decided.

As Rebecca walked out to the courtyard, she saw Gaara, Kiba, and Sasuke sitting under the tree, obviously waiting for their partners too. Rebecca smirked inwardly. Then she turned her attention to the group of girls in the very center. "Who do you have for your partner for the science project?" Rebecca heard Ino asking Sakura excitedly.

"Sasuke," Sakura replied gloomily. "Lucky!" Ino shrieked. "But I bet his fan club wants to kill you." "They already tried when I was announced his partner," Sakura informed Ino. Then she caught a glimpse of Rebecca standing there watching. "Hey Rebecca!" Sakura waved. Rebecca simply raised her hand in acknowledgement.

"Are you meeting up with Sasuke today?" Rebecca asked. "Yes," Sakura told her. "Hey, who'd you get for a partner Rebecca?" Ino asked. "Gaara," Rebecca said despairingly. "No way! You two got two of the hottest guys in school and you sound so sad about it. It's true, they're butts, but their totally hot!" Ino exclaimed.

"Who'd Leonie get?" "Kiba." "That's just creepy. All of us seem to be paired up with a guy from the group of our arch rivals," Ino stated. "Who'd you get?" "Shikamaru," Ino muttered. Rebecca smirked. "This should be interesting. She's had a crush on him for the longest time." The last part of Rebecca's sentence was directed at Sakura.

Rebecca suddenly sensed a presence behind her. Rebecca jumped around and her black eyes met black rimmed, sea green eyes. "Are you ready yet?" Gaara asked irritated. "No," Rebecca said, watching him closely for his reaction. "Too bad." Before Rebecca could even register he had touched her, he was dragging her out the front gates by the arm. "Hey let me go!" Rebecca demanded. Gaara glanced back at the struggling girl. "No." And he kept dragging her down the street to his house. "Did you see that?" Ino asked unbelievingly. "Rebecca just let herself get dragged away by Gaara!"

"She was taking too long. So are you," said Sasuke from behind Sakura. She eeped as he grabbed her arm and started dragging her too.

At Gaara's House

"We're here," Gaara announced as he let go of Rebecca's arm. "Finally. I think you left a permanent bruise on my upper arm," Rebecca muttered. Gaara glared at her as he dug through his backpack to find his house key. "We'll have the house to ourselves. Temari is working on her project at her partner's house and so is my brother, Kankuro." 'Nooooooooo!' Rebecca inwardly wailed. 'This was supposed to be a little bit bearable because Temari would be here!' Gaara looked at her in amusement as he saw her face register shock then despair when he announced Temari wouldn't be home.

Rebecca followed Gaara through the door and sat down awkwardly on the couch. "So what do we do now?" she asked. "Ask each other questions." Gaara looked at her as if she were really stupid. "I know that." "So why'd you ask?" "I was asking about what questions we ask." "Well why didn't you say so?" "I did. You're just too stupid to realize it." "Am not!"

And so the fighting continued for a while until they finally settled down enough to start asking questions. Gaara soon learned that Rebecca was a seriously misunderstood person. She acted tough, but he realized it was simply to cover up how vulnerable she truly was on the inside. He was rather shocked when he learned that her mother was killed by her father when he was drunk, but then he killed himself. When Rebecca started talking about her mother, her face turned blank, her eyes dead, and her voice was emotionless.

Rebecca learned that Gaara was more than he appeared to be. He had a sensitive side to him, though he would never admit that out loud. His mother had been killed when Gaara was born and his father had sent him and his siblings away because he hated them.

Rebecca stretched a bit when they were finished. She felt Gaara watching her. "What?" she demanded. "Nothing," he replied quickly, turning his head away. They sat in silence for a little bit. Gaara was the one to break the silence. "Would you like to stay for dinner?" "I guess. Leonie is the only one who would be at home, but she's over at Kiba's working on her project, so she won't be home for a while."

Dinner that night was instant ramen from a cup. "Naruto would be going crazy over this," Gaara murmured. Rebecca smiled in agreement. After having learned so much about the other the two had come to a truce of sorts. Rebecca finished her noodles, rinsed her bowl out, and left it in the sink. "Thanks for everything Gaara," Rebecca said as she picked up her backpack that was lying on the floor next to the door. "I'll walk you home," Gaara said as he got up from his chair.

Rebecca gave him a funny look. "I can take care of myself you know." "I'm coming," Gaara insisted. Rebecca just rolled her eyes and dropped the subject. There were some things worth fighting for, but this wasn't one of them.

The walk to Rebecca and Leonie's house was uneventful. Gaara said a brief good night when he left her at her door. Rebecca looked at his retreating back until he was out of sight. 'That was a lot different than it would have been if I had been paired with one of my fan girls,' Gaara thought as he walked back to his house. 'I actually kind of enjoyed it. She's an interesting person. She's definitely not like those other girls who wear an inch of make up just so they look absolutely perfect. I think it makes them look fake. But Rebecca's just herself. I think I kind of like her for that.' Gaara stopped and shook his head at the thought. 'I don't like her. She's my arch rival.' Gaara comforted himself with this thought as he finished his walk home.

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This chapter was the beginning of the Gaara x OC pairing. Bet you can guess which OC he's going to be paired with. For those of you who are upset because I didn't include any of the others, that's next chapter. Plz review!


	4. Leonie and Kiba

This chapter is going to be fairly short. Sorry to all of you who were hoping to have a longer chapter but I will be making my next chapter fairly long.

Recap

The walk to Rebecca and Leonie's house was uneventful. Gaara said a brief good night when he left her at her door. Rebecca looked at his retreating back until he was out of sight. 'That was a lot different than it would have been if I had been paired with one of my fan girls,' Gaara thought as he walked back to his house. 'I actually kind of enjoyed it. She's an interesting person. She's definitely not like those other girls who wear an inch of make up just so they look absolutely perfect. I think it makes them look fake. I think I kind of like her.' Gaara stopped and shook his head at the thought. 'I don't like her. She's my arch rival.' Gaara comforted himself with this thought as he finished his walk home.

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With Leonie and Kiba

Kiba waited by the front gates for Leonie to finally show up. About five minutes later, he finally caught sight of her walking out the front doors. Leonie dragged her feet as she saw Kiba waiting for her by the gate.

"You take forever," Kiba said irritably as Leonie approached him. "Well I can't help it if I have friends that can talk," Leonie retorted. Kiba just rolled his eyes, which made Leonie even angrier.

They walked down the street in silence. Kiba's house was a blue, two story building and, as Leonie found out as she walked through the front doors, smelled very strongly of dog. "Ackamaru!" Kiba called as he walked in behind Leonie. A cute white dog leaped onto Kiba and started licking him.

"Your dog's cute!" Leonie commented. But then she smirked an evil smirk. "I guess the saying the dog takes after the master isn't true." "How dare you…" he snarled. "How dare I insult you? Spare me," Leonie said boredly.

Suddenly Leonie punched Kiba in the face. "But if you want to be pissed at me for punching you in the face, be my guest." Kiba charged Leonie, but she just jumped out of the way. But she didn't count on Ackamaru jumping onto her chest and knocking her to the floor.

"And here I was, thinking you were the decent one," Leonie muttered. "Hmm, should I let Ackamaru pin you to the floor during the entire interview, or should I make him let you up?" Kiba asked, looking like he was thinking hard.

Leonie sent him a death glare and said venomously, "If you want to live, you'll make him get off of me." Kiba repressed a shudder. That girl was scary when she was mad. "Alright Ackamaru you can get off of her," Kiba sighed.

Leonie stood up slowly and brushed herself off. "We'll sit in the living room," Kiba called over his shoulder to Leonie. She walked cautiously into a room and saw a black couch with navy blue pillows. 'I like the color coordination,' Leonie thought. She sat down next to Kiba on the couch. "So let's begin."

For the next few hours, Kiba and Leonie asked each other questions. Of course, the two also got into three more fights, so by the end of the night Leonie had another split lip and a bloody nose. Kiba had a black eye and a red hand print on his cheek where Leonie had slapped him.

"Finally we're done with the questions!" Leonie exclaimed as she wrote down Kiba's response to her last question. "Well, I'd better go. Rebecca will be at home if she isn't in jail for killing Gaara." Leonie groaned as she stood up. Three hours of sitting had made her leg muscles stiff.

"I'll walk you home," Kiba said abruptly. "Huh?" Leonie stopped in the process of picking up her back pack. "You heard me. It's dangerous to walk alone at this time of night." "Concerned for my safety? I'm touched," Leonie sneered.

"I could care less about you. I'm more worried about how Rebecca would react," Kiba shuddered. "Gee, thanks," Leonie replied sarcastically. It turned out that Kiba didn't have to worry about Leonie because nothing except for the two moved in the streets the entire walk home.

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I'm having a hard time with inspiration for the Sasuke and Sakura interview. It was a lot easier with the first two since I based the other characters off of real people. But plz review!


	5. Mayhem In the Science Room

Im soooooooooo sorry that I haven't been updating. school and mother are some of the few reasons. but I will try to update as soon as possible

Recap

"I could care less about you. I'm more worried about how Rebecca would react," Kiba shuddered. "Gee, thanks," Leonie replied sarcastically. It turned out that Kiba didn't have to worry about Leonie because nothing except for the two moved in the streets the entire walk home.

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Sakura woke up to the beeping of her alarm clock once again. She was so tired, she was having trouble dragging herself out of bed. 'Why am I so tired?' Sakura wondered. But then she remembered last night.

Flashback

_Sasuke dragged Sakura to his black convertible. "Let me go!" Sakura protested. "I'm perfectly capable of walking on my own!" Sasuke just gave her one of those you're-so-stupid looks._

_They pulled out of the school's parking lot with relative ease since Sasuke's entire fan girl community immediately moved out of his way. They got this enraged look of disbelief on their faces when they saw Sakura in the car with their beloved Sasuke. He roared out onto the road._

_When they pulled up to Sasuke's house, Sakura was stunned. His house was HUGE! Sasuke poked her. "Hey Pinky, you gonna sit there just staring at my house?" He smirked when he heard Sakura growl slightly with annoyance. "How many times do I have to tell you-" Not to call you Pinky?" Sasuke cut her off. "Never mind, let's just hurry up and get this over with!" Sakura opened the door and stepped out._

_She followed Sasuke through the front doors. If possible, the inside was more amazing than the outside. Sakura stood there gaping in awe, again. "Come on!" Sasuke grabbed her by the wrist and dragged her up the stairs._

"_This is my room," he told her as he pushed open a black door. The room inside was actually normal. His bed had dark, navy blue sheets and there were a few posters on the walls. Sasuke gestured for Sakura to sit next to him on the bed. She flipped open her notebook for notes. "So, what now?" Sakura asked. "I'll start asking questions," Sasuke replied. Sakura rolled her eyes. 'Big surprise there,' she thought._

_For the next few hours Sakura and Sasuke answered each other's questions. Sakura was shocked to learn that Sasuke's family had been murdered by his older brother, Itachi. But Sasuke wasn't expecting Sakura to tell him that her parents had been mysteriously murdered, and no one ever found the culprit. _

End Flashback

Sakura glanced at the clock. "Oh shit! I'm going to be late again!" Sakura yelled. She ran down the stairs, grabbed her back pack, and raced out the door. "You know, this is exactly what I did yesterday," she realized. "Now all I need is for Sasuke to almost run me over, and my day will start exactly like it did yesterday." As soon as she said that, a black convertible with Sasuke inside almost hit her. "I hate irony," Sakura muttered. But then she yelled at Sasuke, "Watch it you jerk!" Sasuke just smirked and drove away.

When she walked through the front gate, she saw Ino waving wildly. "Hey guys!" Sakura said. Rebecca and Leonie didn't respond; they just kept sleeping. "What's with you guys?" Sakura asked. "Late night," Rebecca responded shortly. Just then Tenten and Hinata walked up. "How did your interviews go last night?" Ino asked all of them.

"Rotten," Temari replied as she walked up. "I was stuck with Hikaru," she explained. Rebecca and Leonie collapsed into a fit of laughter. "I feel sorry for you," she gasped. "Sure seems like it," Temari replied sarcastically. "Am I missing something here," Sakura muttered to Ino. "Oh yeah, I keep forgetting you're new here. Hikaru's this boy who is totally obsessed with Temari." "Poor Temari," Sakura observed. "Finally someone who sympathizes," Temari muttered, shooting a glare at the still-laughing Rebecca and Leonie.

"So, back to my original question, how did your interviews go last night?" "Wasn't as bad as it could have been," Rebecca replied. "Kiba and I beat each other up again," Leonie sighed. "It wasn't as bad as it could've been," Sakura answered. "How did yours go?" Rebecca shot back at Ino. "Fine," Ino muttered, blushing. "Ooh! Something happened! Spill!" Tenten squealed.

"I noticed you didn't respond when I asked how your interview went," Ino said in and attempt to distract Tenten. "Boring Neji was the same stuck up butt head that he normally is," Tenten sighed. Just then the bell rang. 'Saved by the bell,' Ino thought.

Sakura shoved her back pack into her locker and grabbed her binder. She made it into the classroom just as the tardy bell rang. The class was pretty much empty. Sakura sweat dropped. 'Um, where are all the people?' she wondered. Only a couple of nerdy kids sat in the back.

"Oh, I forgot to tell you that no one bothers to come on time for this class," Ino said as she walked in a few minutes later. "Kakashi-sensei is almost always late." You couldn't have told me this sooner?" hissed a very pissed Sakura. Ino slowly backed away, laughing sheepishly. Sakura just rolled her eyes and sat down.

About twenty minutes later after class was supposed to start, Kakashi walked in. "Hello class. Sorry I'm late. I got lost on the road of life." "LIAR!" yelled half the class, Naruto's being the most prominent voice. "Right, well, today is a free day, so you can do whatever you want."

Sakura pulled out her sketchbook and continued drawing a picture. "Wow," Ino commented, looking over Sakura's shoulder. "That's an amazing drawing." It was of a tropical paradise with waterfalls and palm trees. Sakura blushed. "Thanks!"

But her moment of happiness was ruined by the paper ball that hit her in the back of her head. She whirled to see, yet again, the smirking Uchiha. "What?" Sakura demanded. His smirk grew wider. "You had a fly on the back of your head." Sakura slowly stood up and faced Sasuke. "If you have a problem with me, Uchiha, then say it to my face instead of coming up with lame excuses."

The room went dead silent.

"I could have sworn you just talked back to me, Haruno," Sasuke said coldly. Rebecca and Leonie were instantly by Sakura's side. "Don't worry. I can handle this jerk on my own," Sakura told them. They sat down slowly, their muscles tensed and ready.

Sasuke opened his mouth to make a come back, but the bell cut him off. "This isn't over, Haruno," Sasuke warned as the class stampeded into the hallways. "You bet it isn't!" Sakura yelled at his retreating back. "Well, at least you don't sit next to him next period," Rebecca said, trying and failing to look on the bright side.

Anko didn't make quite as flashy and entrance as she did the first day. "Those of you who actually did the interviews, turn them into the box marked period two." Rebecca, Leonie, and Sakura moved to turn in their homework. But on the way back to their seats, they tripped. Rebecca and Sakura caught themselves before they fell, and Rebecca grabbed Leonie. Meanwhile, Sakura looked behind them to see what they had tripped on. "Such klutzes," Kiba sniggered. "Jerks," Leonie muttered.

"Settle down!" Anko yelled. "We're going to be doing an experiment today." Almost the entire class exploded in cheers. Leonie could see the wheels turning in Rebecca's head as Anko explained the experiment. "We're going to sabotage their experiment, aren't we?" Leonie asked as Rebecca opened her mouth to explain her genius plan. She nodded.

"The chemicals we're using react rather violently with water, so all we have to do is switch this vial of colored water with the chemical, and the whole thing goes boom." Sakura looked at her strangely. "That's an ingenious plan, but why do you carry vials of colored water with you?" "Just in case," Rebecca replied mysteriously. "Meaning that when she spills something on herself, she uses the water to hide the stain," Leonie whispered to Sakura. "Hey!" Rebecca yelled. She dumped a vial of yellow water on Leonie's head. However, it made no difference since Leonie's hair was blond.

While the boys were off getting their safety equipment, Rebecca switched the chemical with the water. Then, Rebecca, Leonie, and Sakura got started on the experiment. It was fairly easy. All you had to do was mix the chemicals and observe the reaction. But it's a lot more complicated when you're not mixing the right chemicals.

Kiba was the unfortunate one who poured the water into the test tube. The test tube exploded with the mixture, and a foul-smelling stench entered the air. Kiba, Gaara, and Sasuke were poked with tiny glass shards. Kiba's face was covered in soot. Rebecca, Leonie and Sakura were laughing so hard their faces were purple.

"You idiots!" Anko screeched. "You could have done serious damage! Stay after class to clean this mess up!" As soon as Anko finished, the bell rang. The three girls were still laughing about the bewildered faces of the three boys. They definitely had a great story to tell at lunch today.

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finally I have updated. I promised a longer chapter, so here it is! plz review!


	6. Teamwork Test Part 1

here's the next chapter. I really hope you like it. oh, and thank you to all who have reviewed my story. I do truly take the time to read all of them.

Recap

"You idiots!" Anko screeched. "You could have done serious damage! Stay after class to clean this mess up!" As soon as Anko finished, the bell rang. The three girls were still laughing about the bewildered faces of the three boys. They definitely had a great story to tell at lunch today.

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"…and then the whole thing went BOOM!" Sakura was telling Ino excitedly. Ino turned to Rebecca. "I didn't know you could come up with such an evil but brilliant plan." "I try," Rebecca replied smugly. "Ever the modest one," Leonie muttered. Rebecca hit Leonie on the back of the head. Leonie rubbed her head, glaring at Rebecca. But little did they know, the boys were standing nearby listening to every word.

"So it was them," Kiba muttered darkly. "You got beaten by a bunch of girls?" Neji asked. "Shut it, Hyuuga," Sasuke warned. "Anyways, I have a plan to get back at them." "Oh?" Neji cocked an eyebrow. "You know how each of the girls hates one of us more than the others?" Sasuke asked, not bothering to wait for replies before going on. "Well, we should make each of the girls go out with us on a date."

Neji snorted. "What kind of a plan is that?" Gaara demanded. Sasuke sighed. "We would do something that each of the girls hates. It also wouldn't be a bad idea to publicly embarrass them. And even if none of those things works, our fan clubs will make life a living hell for them when they find out." "Hmm, not as bad as it first sounded," Shikamaru commented. "Who would we each force to go on a date with us?"

"Hold on a minute. How could we force them to go out with us in the first place?" Gaara asked. Sasuke smirked a very evil smirk. "I already thought of that." He held up a tape recorder. "I recorded every word they said. So now, if they don't go, we'll show this to Anko and she'll know who the real culprits are."

Kiba looked at him in amazement. "Your plan is just crazy enough to work." "Well, back to my question: who are each of us going to blackmail into going out with us?" Shikamaru asked again. Sasuke sighed. "When you hear this, please don't murder me. Gaara will ask Rebecca, Kiba will ask Leonie, Neji will ask Tenten, Shikamaru will ask Ino, Naruto will ask Hinata, and I'll ask Sakura."

There were mixed reactions. Kiba and Gaara looked like they were going to explode, Neji was staring off into space, and Shikamaru muttered, "Troublesome." There was no reaction from Naruto. "Naruto?" "Of course, he's not here." Sasuke rolled his eyes. "I knew it was too quiet," Shikamaru said. "Where is Naruto?" Kiba asked. "Who knows?" Sasuke replied.

They found Naruto before lunch was over and explained the plan to him. "You know, it's really lucky that we have our targets in all of our classes," Sasuke commented as they walked to P.E. Gaara just rolled his eyes. All the kids met in the gym after they finished changing. Their uniform was darkish green shorts with a white shirt that had the Konoha Village symbol on it in green (you know, the little leaf swirly thing).

Rebecca, Leonie, and Sakura were standing together. "We should probably be on our guard for their revenge plan," Rebecca mused. Just then, the teacher, Gai, walked into the gym. "Today, my youthful students, we are going to be practicing teamwork!" Everyone groaned.

"I will split you into pairs: Gaara and Rebecca, Kiba and Leonie, Sasuke and Sakura…" 'Well that saved me the embarrassment of having to try to get her alone,' Kiba thought. The other guys were thinking things along the same lines.

"How many projects am I going to get stuck with him on?" Rebecca moaned as she banged her head repeatedly against Leonie's shoulder. "I should add," Gai continued, "that these people will be your partners for the rest of the year."

"WHAT!!" Rebecca, Leonie, and Sakura screeched. "I'm stuck with that chicken haired jerk for the rest of the year!" Sakura exclaimed disbelievingly. Someone cleared his throat behind Sakura. She squeaked a little from surprise and turned around to see a glaring Uchiha.

"At least my hair color is a normal color. Yours is weird." "It's not weird, it's unique!" (a/n: that's exactly what I say except my phrase is I'm not crazy, I'm unique!) Sasuke rolled his eyes.

Their "teamwork" activity for the day was to find their way out of the mini forest that was next to the school. Gai led each pair to a different clearing blindfolded. "You won't go to any other class until you manage to get out of the forest," Gai told each group. "But what do we do if it gets dark?" Rebecca asked Gai. "Well, then, you're stuck here overnight." "What do we do for food?" "You find some."

Then Gai disappeared, leaving Rebecca stranded with Gaara. She stood there for a while just staring in disbelief at the spot where Gai had stood. 'This can't be happening!' she repeatedly thought. Sakura and Leonie were in similar states of shock.

"Are you just going to stand there staring all day?" Gaara asked Rebecca impatiently. She pulled herself back to earth. "Well, mister genius, which way are we going to go?" Gaara thought for a minute. "Do you know which direction the school is in relation to the forest?" Gaara asked her. Rebecca hesitated. "I think it's east."

"You think? We need definites." "Well you were the one to ask," Rebecca retorted, her temper flaring. Gaara glared at her. "Shut up unless you've got something useful to say."

Rebecca struggled with her dangerously rising temper. She clenched and unclenched her fists, digging her nails into her palms using the pain to distract herself. Gaara meanwhile looked around. It was a little past noon, so the sun was a little more westerly. Gaara nodded. He would trust Rebecca's judgment for now and go east. Rebecca followed him as he plunged into the underbrush.

With Sasuke and Sakura

Sasuke paced around the clearing. "Which way is the school?" he muttered to himself. "If we knew that, we wouldn't be out here," Sakura snapped. Sasuke ignored her and continued pacing. Sakura let out a frustrated breath. 'Unless we work together, we're going to be stuck out here for who knows how long. I'll have to swallow my pride and make a temporary truce with Sasuke.' Her mind made up, Sakura walked over to where Sasuke was finally standing still.

"Sasuke." He looked up at the sound of his name. He saw Sakura standing next to him. "The only way we're going to get out of here any time soon is if we work together. So, temporary truce?" Sakura held out her hand to Sasuke. Sasuke hesitated. Should he agree to the truce and sacrifice his pride, or should he be his usual arrogant self?

Only a moment more of hesitation made up Sasuke's mind. He took Sakura's outstretched hand.

Sakura looked up in surprise. She had expected him to refuse. Her eyes met his, and it felt like she could finally see into his soul. Infinite sadness was there but also determination. Sasuke could see similar feelings mirrored in Sakura's eyes. They each finally saw something that could bring them together.

With Kiba and Leonie

"This is just great!" Kiba exploded. "Stuck in a forest for who knows how long, and I'm stuck with Leonie!" "I'm right here," Leonie growled. "And instead of ranting, how about you do something useful?" Kiba glared at her.

"Do you know which direction the school's in?" Kiba demanded. "Okay, listen here. I know you hate this assignment. I know I hate this assignment. But if we want to finish this soon, we're going to have to put aside our differences for a little while," Leonie decided. "Fine," Kiba muttered.

"I think the school's towards the east," Leonie thought out loud. "So we go that way." Kiba pointed towards a direction. Leonie nodded, and they started walking.

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I finally finished this chapter. Rebecca and Gaara aren't getting along very well. I decided to make Sakura and Sasuke finally accept each other. And Leonie gets to take control of her pairing. My friend who I based Leonie off of wrote this ending to my story. No offense to all the Kiba fans out there:

_Kiba exploded. The men cheered, the women laughed, and Leonie gripped the detonator._


	7. Teamwork Test Part 2

I know it's been a while since I last updated but I tried to make this chapter longer. Hope you enjoy! I should remind you that almost all of them are fifteen.

_Italicsdream_

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Tenten, Temari, Hinata, and Ino all met outside after school. "Has anyone seen Leonie, Rebecca, or Sakura?" Tenten asked anxiously. "I heard rumors that one of the PE classes had a teamwork survival test thingy, and they're stuck in the forest next to the school until they can find their way out," Ino announced.

This announcement was met with dead silence. "Why didn't you tell us this sooner!" Temari exploded. "Yeah, we've been worried sick about them ever since lunch!" Tenten added.

Ino laughed nervously. "Um, well, I thought they'd be out by now…" Hinata restrained Temari when she tried to choke Ino. "I just h-hope t-they're okay," Hinata said.

With the Guys

"Damn it, where's Sasuke?" Naruto shouted as he paced underneath the trees where they usually met. "He was supposed to bring the tape so that we could blackmail the girls today!"

"Did you even notice that Kiba and Gaara are missing as well?" Neji asked Naruto. Looking around, Naruto finally noticed his other two friends' missing presence. "Where are they?" "At some teamwork training thing for PE," Shikamaru answered.

"Damn, I guess this means we'll have to blackmail the girls tomorrow," Naruto muttered. "Do you even care that three of your friends are in the forest and could possibly die?" Neji asked him curiously. "They'll be fine."

With Gaara and Rebecca

But Naruto's prediction was incorrect for Gaara and Rebecca. "Doesn't that tree look familiar?" Rebecca asked, pointing to a large oak tree. Gaara looked over, and his eyes widened in disbelief. "No way, we passed that tree ten minutes ago!"

"Could this get any worse?" Rebecca moaned. A cold wind started blowing as the sun started setting. "Did I ever mention I hate irony?" Rebecca yelled to the sky.

Gaara growled in frustration. "It's pointless to keep walking since we won't know where we're going." "Did you see anywhere we could sleep?" Gaara looked around. "I haven't seen any clearings…" he said slowly. "That's just perfect. Now we're going to have to sleep in a tree!" Rebecca sighed.

'Might as well sleep in a big tree,' Gaara thought as he started climbing up the oak tree. When he reached about thirty feet, he stopped. "Aren't you coming?" he called down to Rebecca. "Coming where? I need my own tree to sleep in!"

Smirking, Gaara shook his head. "It'd be stupid to sleep in separate trees. If something attacked one of us, we'd be too far away to help the other person." They argued for almost ten minutes straight before Gaara finally won.

The branch that Gaara had chosen was a huge branch that three people could easily sleep on. Rebecca slept on the part that was furthest away from the tree, and Gaara slept on the part that was closest to the tree.

Lulled by the gentle noises of nature, Rebecca fell asleep quickly. But Gaara had more trouble drifting into unconsciousness (no duh, he's an insomniac). However, his musings were cut short by Rebecca's tossing and turning. Frowning, Gaara thought, 'If she doesn't cut that out soon, she's going to fall.'

When he heard faint muttering coming from the sleeping girl, he crawled over to better hear what she was saying.

"No…mother can't be dead! Don't…leave me…like everyone else." A single tear traced its way down her dirt-smudged cheek. Gaara remembered what Rebecca had said during her interview. 'She must be having a nightmare about the night her mom was killed.'

"Rebecca, wake up. It's only a dream." Gaara gently shook the still fidgeting girl. But Rebecca just curled slightly into a ball and muttered with fear evident in her voice, "Don't father! I swear I didn't sneak out! Don't hurt me!"

With that last sentence, she suddenly shot up, but she knocked into Gaara which knocked her off balance and falling head first towards the forest floor. A strong hand that gripped her ankle prevented Rebecca from falling any further. Grunting with effort, Gaara managed to pull her back onto the branch.

"Thanks," Rebecca muttered, her eyes not meeting Gaara's. Her body still trembled from the reality of the dream, and her skin was clammy and sweaty.

Dream One

_A ten-year-old Rebecca knelt next to a bloodied body, sobbing. "No! Mother, you can't die. I need you! Don't leave me like everyone else has!" _

_Breathing shallowly, the woman on the floor responded. "Don't hate your father for what he's done. But you should realize that you don't need me. You're strong and you have Leonie. I'm proud of you. Be brave." _

_The hand that had been gently stroking Rebecca's cheek slowly fell to the floor and lay still._

"_MOTHER!" Rebecca screamed._

Dream Two

_An eight-year-old Rebecca cowered before a strongly built man that had a leather belt raised above his head._

"_I swear I didn't sneak out! Don't hurt me!" Rebecca yelled frantically. "Quit lying!" the man screamed as he smashed the belt on her delicate skin that was already marked with numerous bruises and cuts._

_She cried out in pain._

"_Jacob, stop it! She swears she didn't do anything!" her mother yelled. "Shut up, you fucking bitch!" he snarled._

Now that the initial shock had worn off, Rebecca felt burning anger instead of fear. Gaara could feel the anger seeping from her.

"Your parents beat you as a child, didn't they?" Gaara stated bluntly. "Just my father," Rebecca responded, surprising Gaara. Her voice trembled with rage, and her fists were clenched so tightly, her knuckles turned white.

"I'll show you how the memory of that bastard will haunt me forever," Rebecca snarled as she pulled up one of her pant legs to the knee. Just her shins had numerous scars criss-crossing all over the skin.

Suddenly, she punched the tree leaving a huge dent in the trunk.

Gaara's eyes widened slightly. 'She's a lot stronger than she looks.' "I've tried to forget about him and what he did to me and mother. But I can't. It's nothing but a burning pain inside of me. And I hate it!" She screamed the last part. Over and over Rebecca punched the tree until her knuckles were raw and bleeding.

Slowly, the anger faded from her eyes. "If you ever tell anyone about this," Rebecca threatened, looking directly at Gaara, "I will personally show the president of your fan club where you live." Gaara nodded. "Fair enough."

Rebecca sat on the now dented branch just thinking. 'What was I doing, revealing that much to him? I've never told anyone but Leonie about this. But, then again, it would be really hard not to tell Leonie since she lives with me.' Light from the rising sun interrupted her thoughts.

"Dawn, let's go," Gaara said as he began climbing down the tree. When both of them were back on solid ground, they continued walking towards the sun.

About thirty minutes later they emerged from the thick foliage. "What! If I had known we were this close to the end, I wouldn't have stopped walking! Rebecca yelled. "Well, I wouldn't have stopped of you hadn't been complaining so much," Gaara retorted.

"I wasn't the one who suggested we stop."

"You didn't complain when I told you we were stopping."

'Crap, I can't think of anything to say back,' Rebecca thought. Gaara smirked triumphantly. "Shut it, red head," Rebecca warned. "I didn't say anything," Gaara said innocently.

"You're thinking it."

"What, are you psychic now?"

"I can see it in your face!" Rebecca yelled, glaring at Gaara. He glared right back.

Their glaring match would have gone on far a long time if Gai hadn't appeared out of nowhere, freaking both of them out.

"My youthful students, you have finally finished!" "Don't appear out of nowhere like that!" Rebecca yelled, trying to calm her racing heartbeat. Gai just ignored her and continued with what he had been saying. "Congratulations! You are the very last team to finish. Since you only managed to find your way out of the forest now, I will give you these passes to come in at eleven o'clock, so you can go sleep!"

Gai handed each of them a slip of green paper and ran off muttering about their lack of youthfulness. The awkward moment was broken by Rebecca's growling stomach. Gaara smirked as she turned slightly red. "Gotta go, bye!" Rebecca yelled as she sped off towards her house.

Twelve Hours Earlier With Sasuke and Sakura

Sakura glanced worriedly at the rapidly darkening sky. "Shouldn't we stop?" Sasuke shook his head. "Look around you. The trees are thinning out, so we are obviously nearing the end." He ended up being right as twenty minutes later, they walked into the open.

Looking over to where Gai was standing, Sakura spotted Kiba and Leonie already over there.

"Congratulations! You are the second team to finish. The youthfulness is with you!" Gai yelled as Sakura and Sasuke ran up. "You mean Rebecca hasn't finished yet?" Sakura asked Leonie. She shook her head. "Knowing Rebecca, she's probably murdering him or something like that."

Suddenly Sakura's knees buckled as she started falling sideways. But a pair of strong arms grabbing her stopped the fall. Smirking, Sasuke pulled Sakura back into a standing position.

"Klutz." Glaring at Sasuke, Sakura retorted, "Am not! And our temporary truce is officially over now!" Still slightly smirking, Sasuke watched as Sakura stormed home.

The Next Day

Sakura was working on her math worksheet when the door opened. "Ahh! It's a zombie!" a random girl in the back screamed. The person who had just walked in, who happened to be Rebecca, glared at the girl.

When she sat down, Leonie passed her a folded piece of paper.

(a/n: this next part is the note. **bold** Leonie and underlined Rebecca)

**Are you alright?**

Yeah, just really tired.

**What time did you finally finish the test? I tried to wait for you, but Gai sent me home at eight.**

Six-fifteen this morning

**This morning?!**

Turns out that we were only thirty minutes away from finishing when Gaara made us stop

As if on cue, the boy that Rebecca had been writing about walked through the door. The rest of the morning was nothing but a sleepy haze for Rebecca.

Lunch, however, was the all-time low of the day. Or so Rebecca thought at that time.

"What happened during your test?" Ino pressed Leonie and Sakura for details. Sakura shrugged. "What about you, Rebecca?" Everyone at the table turned to her. "Huh?" "What happened during your test?" Ino repeated slowly. "Nothing," Rebecca replied, putting her head in her arms. "There's no way nothing happened! I mean, you two were in the forest together overnight!" Tenten exclaimed. "Absolutely nothing happened! Just drop it!" Rebecca yelled. They all moved back a little from the fuming girl.

"Someone's in a foul mood today," Gaara commented from behind Rebecca. The rest of the group of guys walked up. 'Why's Sasuke holding a tape recorder?' Leonie wondered.

"Since you embarrassed us in the middle of science class, we've come up with suitable pay back," Kiba informed the girls gleefully. "Wait, so why're you telling us that you're going to get back at us?" Tenten asked. Pretty much all the girls were wondering the same thing.

"Sasuke, will you do the honors of introducing your brilliant plan?" Neji smirked. Smirking as well, Sasuke stepped forward. "Each of you, except for Temari, will have to go on a date with one of us." Rebecca started choking on the milk she was drinking. It took several hard pats to the back before she could breathe normally.

"What kind of a brilliant plan is that? And what the hell makes you think that we'll even go with you?" Rebecca demanded. Naruto laughed evilly. "We already thought of that. We recorded your entire conversation yesterday." "So if you don't go," Sasuke cut in, "we'll show Anko who's really responsible for the explosion in the lab yesterday."

Dead silence from the girls.

"Who do we have to go with? And why is Temari exempt?" Ino demanded. "There wasn't enough of us for someone to go with Temari, so we decided to let her have a break," Neji admitted.

"The pairings are this: Rebecca and Gaara, Kiba and Leonie, Ino and Shikamaru, Naruto and Hinata, Tenten and Neji, and me and Sakura," Sasuke informed them. There were mixed reactions.

Rebecca crushed the empty milk carton still in her hand, Sakura looked like the Apocalypse had just come, Leonie's eyes widened, Hinata looked like she was going to faint, Tenten's mouth was hanging open, and Ino looked like she was actually kind of happy. "We'll let you know later where we're going to go!" Kiba called back to the stunned girls.

'Why am I not at least a little happy?' Rebecca asked herself over and over again. 'I've had a crush on Gaara practically since I first met him. So why do I feel so hollow inside? Probably because the only reason he's doing this is because he wants revenge.' Rebecca sighed.

When she got home, she left her back pack on the table. "Leonie, I'm going for a walk. I need to clear my head." Leonie looked at her friend with understanding. "Go ahead. I'll do your homework." "What?" "You've been really stressed out lately. Go relax." Rebecca smiled gratefully and left.

She went to the one place she could think in peace: the park.

She found the trail she was looking for and followed it for a little while. Then when she came to a stone shaped almost perfectly like a rectangle, she turned left and kept walking until she reached her clearing. Sighing in relief, she sat against a sakura tree, closed her eyes, and thought about everything that had been happening to her lately.

Lost in thought, Rebecca didn't notice how dark it was until the sun was almost gone. She stood up and prepared to leave until she sensed ten people completely surrounding the clearing. 'Crap,' was the only thing she had time to think before the presences revealed themselves. They were all boys about eighteen years old.

"What's a girl as pretty as you doing out here all alone this late?" the one who was obviously the leader purred. All the guys were staring at her body and not attempting to hide they liked what they saw.

Rebecca bared her teeth. "Get the fuck out of my way before I seriously hurt you," she hissed. The leader laughed. "You're a feisty one. I like the fiery ones more than the meek ones." He moved towards her. Shifting slightly so she had more balance, Rebecca punched him straight in the face. He flew back and smashed into a tree.

The lust was gone from his eyes now to be replaced by anger. "Pin her down!" he ordered. All of the guys, except for the leader, attacked at once. For the next thirty seconds, she dodged and blocked, kicked and punched, until she forced all of them back. They all had blood coming out of them from somewhere.

The nine in front of her… 'Wait a minute. There were ten just a minute ago. Oh crap!'

Before Rebecca had a chance to react, a rock hit her solidly on the back of her head. Her vision went blurry, and she stumbled and fell to her knees. Instantly, two of the guys ran at her. She tried to punch them, but they grabbed her arms and forced her down. She tried to kick the two holding her arms, but two more had pinned her legs.

"Let me go!" she hissed. The leader walked over, lust back in his eyes

With Gaara

Gaara walked aimlessly through the park. He desperately needed to clear his head. Normally, when he saw Rebecca, he felt his competitive side awaken. But lately, he had been feeling something different.

'There is no way I'm falling for her!' Gaara reassured himself. 'She's my arch rival.'

His thoughts were interrupted by something that sounded a lot like Rebecca's voice saying, "Let me go!" It didn't sound like she was playing, either. 'Might as well go take a look.'

He jumped into the trees and jumped from branch to branch so that no one would notice him. When he got to the clearing where he thought the voice had come from, he stopped. What he saw made him turn cold with rage.

Four boys pinned Rebecca down to the ground while six stood watching. One of the six walked up to Rebecca and talked to her. 'They're going to rape her!' A fury Gaara hadn't felt in a long time burned to the surface inside him.

With Rebecca

The leader walked up to Rebecca and moved his face so close to hers, she could smell the cigarette smoke on his breath. "We're going to teach you why you shouldn't be out so late alone," he whispered. Rebecca growled in response and slammed her forehead against his. She almost passed out but felt grim satisfaction when he stumbled back in pain.

"I'm done being nice! Time to start your lesson!" The leader stalked over and ordered one of the others watching to restrain her head. Rebecca's vision was going black. "Is this how it's going to end?' she wondered.

Suddenly the pressure her arms, legs, and head disappeared. She struggled to refocus her eyes when she heard Gaara's voice say coldly, "Get the fuck away from her." "Gaara?" she whispered disbelievingly.

Turning to face her, Gaara offered her a hand to help her up. Rebecca allowed herself to be pulled back to her feet where she resumed her fighting stance, swaying dangerously. The attackers could feel the raw rage pouring from Gaara and ran.

"Are you alright?" Gaara's answer was Rebecca passing out into his arms. 'Well, at least she doesn't live far,' he thought sighing. Then he noticed blood running from where she had been hit by the rock. His eyes widened. 'Shit, this is really bad.'

He picked her up bridal style and started running. When he reached her apartment door, he started banging. "No need to be so impatient," he heard Leonie grumble from the other side.

"Gaara, what happened?" Leonie asked when she saw Rebecca lying limply. "Some senior guys tried to rape her just now. But that's not that important right now. She needs to get to the hospital, fast. Her head is bleeding."

Leonie didn't ask anymore questions.

She waved him in and dashed for the phone. "An ambulance is on its way now," Leonie announced a minute later. Another minute later, the sirens from the ambulance could be heard. The two ran out as the ambulance pulled up. Gaara gently laid Rebecca on the stretcher and turned to leave. Leonie's hand on his elbow stopped him. "You have to come. You're the only one who knows what happened."

As Gaara thought about the past hour during the ride to the hospital, he realized something that made him sigh in defeat. He had fallen for his arch rival.

For the next hour and a half, Gaara answered questions about what happened. Finally, he and Leonie were standing in Rebecca's room listening to what the doctor said. "Young man, if you hadn't done anything, this girl could have died. But she's not out of trouble yet. She needs to stay home tomorrow and not move around much to give her body time to heal."

"So she can go home?" Leonie asked hopefully. "As soon as she wakes up." No sooner had the doctor said that then Rebecca began stirring. "Well, then in that case, she can go. But I strongly advise against letting her walk." The doctor left the room.

While Leonie went to her friend, Gaara called Kankuro. (Just pretend Kankuro can drive.) "Kankuro, I need you to come pick me up from the hospital. No, I'm not the one in trouble. Okay, I'll meet you outside in five minutes."

Gaara turned to the two girls who were staring at him. "What?" "You saved my life. If you hadn't been there, I more than likely would have died. Thank you." Gaara smirked. "Don't thank me yet. I still have to carry you outside."

Eventually, they all made it back to Rebecca and Leonie's apartment. Kankuro waited in the car while Gaara carried Rebecca inside and laid her down on her bed.

"Gaara, can I ask you a favor?" Rebecca asked. "Depends." "Please don't tell anyone about what happened today." Gaara nodded. "Don't worry." Then he left.

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This chapter was more about Gaara and Rebecca but my next chapter will be more centered on Sasuke and Sakura. But I finally managed to make a long chapter! Yay! Please don't forget to review! I'll be updating my other story soon.


	8. Detention

I have finally decided to update. For all you sasusaku fans out there, this chapter has major fluff. Personally, I think my ending to the chapter sucked, but it was the best I could think of. Oh, and I'm also starting a new story that I've had in my head for a while now and have finally written it down.

To Save A Kingdom

Aly, AJ, and Ellie (no, their names didn't come out like the singers' names on purpose. They're short for their real names which you'll learn later in the story) are three best friends that are practically sisters. But when a young warrior named Gaara seeks them out to help save his kingdom from invading demons, their world will be turned upside down. They'll meet many new people including more warriors named Sasuke, Neji, Kiba, Naruto, Shino, and Shikamaru. They'll even meet enchantresses named Sakura, Tenten, Hinata, and Ino. But even though their powers are some of the strongest in the kingdom, will it be enough to defeat the demons and whoever the mastermind is behind this whole uprising? Or will their sisterhood be lost along with the lives of the warriors and enchantresses that go along with them? Pairings will be: sasusaku, nejiten, hinanaru, inoshika, gaaraoc, kibaoc, and maybe shinooc Plz read!

Now, on with the story!

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The day was doomed to be a bad one from the start. First, the sky was a dark grey and looked like it was going to start pouring rain any second. Second, Sakura was running late, again.

Said girl was running down the street, her pink and black messenger bag hitting her leg repeatedly. 'If Sasuke almost hits me again today, I swear I'll rip his body to pieces.' The image of Sasuke being ripped into little pieces cheered Sakura up slightly.

But if Sakura had been in a better mood that day, things may have turned out differently.

Luckily for Sasuke, he had been running ahead of Sakura that morning. As she walked onto the school grounds, she noticed Leonie sitting slightly apart from the others.

"Hey, guys!" Sakura called out as she walked over. All of them yelled back, "Hey, Sakura!" All of them, that is, except Leonie. She just muttered a quick hello and returned to the thoughts Sakura couldn't even begin to imagine.

"What's with Leonie?" Sakura asked quietly. "I don't know, it probably has something to do with Rebecca since she isn't here today," Tenten whispered back. Sakura looked up in surprise, just now noticing her missing friend.

"Hey, Leonie, where's Rebecca?" Sakura asked the quiet girl, ignoring Ino who was frantically signaling for Sakura to not ask. Leonie sighed. "Since you're her friends, I suppose you have a right to know. But you have to promise me not to whisper a single word of what I'm going to tell you."

Sakura could see the seriousness in Leonie's eyes as she nodded along with the others.

"Last night, something terrible happened. Rebecca went to the park after she got home to go think. But ten high school guys tried to rape her." Shock and outrage rippled through Sakura. "Th-that's terrible!" Hinata cried. Tenten cracked her knuckles as she imagined what she would like to do to those guys.

"That's not even the half of it," Leonie continued over the chaos her words had created. "One of the guys had hit her in the back of the head with a large rock. She started bleeding pretty badly from the head and would've died if someone hadn't helped her."

"Who was it?" Ino demanded. "I'm sorry, but I promised not to tell anyone who it was. If I told you, Rebecca and the guy would both be after me." Before anyone else could demand Leonie tell them more, the bell rang. "This conversation isn't over yet!" Ino yelled as the stampeding crowd of students dragged her away from Leonie.

The rest of the morning blurred together for Sakura. Lunch was a memorable occasion, however. (I always make things happen at lunch. shrugs Oh well, on with the story!) Sakura was sitting with her friends, waiting for them to finish eating. Ino talked nonstop about what had happened to Rebecca.

"Ino, will you just shut up!" Sakura snapped when they went outside. "Someone's in a bad mood," Sasuke commented from behind Sakura. "Go away cockatoo hair," Sakura snapped again. "Well, you'll want to hear what I have to say. It's about the dates," he responded coolly.

Sakura immediately shut up.

"We got tickets to a STAIND concert…" (I have no clue what this band is. I just asked my friend for a random band and this is the one she gave me.) Sasuke's explanation was cut short by excited squealing.

"How is this a punishment?" Leonie demanded. Sasuke smirked. "You have to stay with your date the entire night." "WHAT?!" Ino screeched. "Hey, where's Emo Girl?" Sasuke finally noticed that Rebecca wasn't there.

Sakura had finally had enough. Stalking over to where Sasuke stood smirking, she punched him straight in the face. Shock crossed Sasuke's face as he stumbled back. "I hate your stupid arrogant attitude. I hate how you think you know everything and that you're the best. You're nothing but a stuck up bastard," Sakura hissed.

Sasuke finally recovered from the earlier surprise. "So you want to fight?" Sasuke said, everything about him like ice. Sakura just smirked and aimed another fist at his head. He blocked it easily and hit Sakura in the stomach. Before Sakura could retaliate, Kakashi appeared out of nowhere. "Both of you, principal's office, now," he said in a dangerous tone that left no room for argument. Sakura stormed off with Sasuke following behind.

In Tsunade's Office

"…and I can't believe you two would do this. Sakura, you've only been here a week, and you're already getting in trouble. I'm very disappointed in both of you. It's detention for you two after school. You'll clean the roof of all the graffiti. No going home until every last drop of paint is gone."

"But it's supposed to rain this afternoon," Sakura protested. "Then finish faster."

Sasuke sat through the entire meeting scowling. As they walked down the halls after being dismissed from Tsunade's office, Sakura suddenly turned around and pointed a finger at Sasuke. "This is NOT over. I will get back at you in some way." Then she stalked off to art class.

"Are you in serious trouble?" Leonie asked as Sakura stormed into the classroom and handed the teacher her pass. "I'm stuck in freaking detention with the asshole Sasuke until we clean off all the paint on the roof," Sakura snapped as she grabbed a pencil and started drawing.

Leonie winced. "That's going to take you a long time." Sakura growled in annoyance. "You're not helping."

All the clocks seemed to move at an accelerated pace. It was almost as if fate wanted Sakura to be in misery as soon as possible. All too soon, the final bell rang for the end of school. Students stampeded out the doors, except for Sakura, who dragged her feet all the way to the janitor's office where she was supposed to report in.

"You're one of the students who're supposed to clean the roof?" the head janitor asked, looking skeptically at Sakura's bright pink hair. Her eyes narrowed at the implication she was weak. "I can work just as hard as anyone else." "If you say so. Put on the gloves and start mixing water with bleach. That stuff's really strong, so be careful."

Sakura grabbed the green hose and put it into the giant twenty gallon bucket. Turning the metal knob to start the water, Sakura searched for the bleach, all the while wondering where Sasuke was.

Twenty minutes after school had been let out, Sasuke ambled in. A pair of rubber gloves hit him in the face. "Put these on and help me carry the bucket up to the roof," Sakura instructed. "Who made you in charge?" Sasuke glared. "The head janitor since I got here on time, unlike some people," Sakura responded smugly. Sasuke didn't argue, but he grumbled the entire way up to the rooftop.

For a time, the only sound was of the sponges scrubbing against the roof.

Sounds of rumbling thunder increased as the hour passed. Then suddenly, with a huge crack, a bolt of lightning tore across the sky. Black, angry clouds boiled up, giving the scene a nightmare-like quality. Another resounding crack and another bolt of lightning shot across the sky.

Sakura froze and started trembling uncontrollably. "Don't tell me you're afraid of little storms," Sasuke teased. Sakura just sat there, wide-eyed with terror, horrible memories of her past ripping through her mind. Genuinely concerned now, Sasuke crawled over to where Sakura was.

"Sakura, are you okay?" Gently shaking her shoulder, Sasuke repeated the question when she didn't respond.

Just then, there was another huge crack of thunder, and a lightning bolt lit up the darkened sky. Sakura screamed and clutched Sasuke's shirt, sobbing, as it started pouring rain. Hesitantly, Sasuke put his arms around the sobbing and terrified girl. She started muttering the word no over and over, louder and louder, until she was screaming. "NO! Mother, Father!"

In a fit of hysteria, Sakura pushed Sasuke away and started running.

"Sakura, no! You're running straight at the edge!" Sasuke yelled, sprinting after her. Too late, the sight of the edge of the roof penetrated Sakura's crazed mind. She tried to stop, but the roof was slick with rain, and she skidded over the edge.

Sasuke's hand gripped hers just in time. A fraction of a second later and she would've been too far to reach. "Hold on, Sakura! I'll pull you up!" Sasuke called. Not one of his words penetrated Sakura's sheer terror. She wouldn't ever admit it, but Sakura was terrified of heights. Now, she was dangling fifty feet in the air in the middle of a storm. It was all her worst fears in one moment.

But then she was slowly being pulled up by Sasuke until her feet were on solid ground.

"Are you okay?" Sasuke asked worriedly. Suddenly, Sakura hugged him tightly. "I was so scared," she admitted, trembling uncontrollably again. At first Sasuke stiffened at the contact, but her gave in and put his arms around her.

"Why are you so terrified of storms?" he murmured into Sakura's silky hair. Sakura sighed. "The night my parents were murdered was a stormy night like this. And the note that was left on my mother's body said that the killer would return for me on a day exactly like the one my parents died on." And then she started to sob. "My parents were kind, honest people. They didn't deserve to die like that. And next to them, written in their own blood, were the words: Die, scamming frauds!"

At that point, Sakura lost all semblance of control.

They stood in the pouring rain for what seemed like hours, Sakura sobbing into Sasuke's shirt. As the storm subsided, so did Sakura's tears. "Are you okay?" Sasuke asked yet again. Drawing in a shaky breath, Sakura replied, "I think so. Just the thought of that night is more than I can take."

"Then don't think about it," Sasuke murmured as he ran his fingers through her silky pink locks. Sakura just snuggled up to him. For the first time in a long time, Sakura felt peaceful and safe. The moment was perfect, and Sakura would have stayed there forever if not for the chilly wind that started blowing. She started shivering, finally noticing how drenched their clothes were.

"S-Sasuke, I'm c-cold," Sakura chattered. Opening his eyes and lifting his head from where it had been resting on top of Sakura's, Sasuke noticed the paint was gone. "Lucky for us. The rain washed all the paint off. Let's go back to the janitor's office and look for blankets."

Sasuke's POV

Shivering the entire way, Sakura walked ahead while I carried the bucket. Trying desperately not to stare at the way Sakura's wet clothes clung to every curve, I stared at the water sloshing around in the bucket. But then my gaze would inevitably always wander up to Sakura again until I mentally slapped myself.

_I'm not like those perverts who always stared at girls!_

_But her body's so hot…No! I have to remain strong in this time of temptation!_

_But look at the way her wet hair shone and her hips swayed when she walked…Damn it, I have to stop thinking like this!_

Normal POV

Sakura could feel Sasuke's gaze on her as they walked back to the janitor's office. Oblivious to his inner struggle, Sakura turned around. "Sasuke will you qu-"

The rest of her sentence was cut off as Sasuke crushed his lips on hers. Her widened jade eyes met his onyx eyes. She saw love, not lust. Slowly, her eyes fluttered shut, and she wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him closer. His arms snaked around her waist and pulled her as close as possible.

At last, they broke apart, panting. "What was that for?" Sakura demanded. "I finally noticed how beautiful you are," Sasuke replied huskily. Shocked silence met his statement. And then Sakura fainted. Since his arms were still around her waist, Sakura was in no danger of hitting the floor.

Sasuke lifted her bridal style and carried her the rest of the way to the office, bucket lying abandoned on the floor.

A blanket was sitting on the couch already, so Sasuke sat down and laid Sakura's head in his lap. The couch was made of a silky material that was very soft. He could feel his eyelids drifting shut. 'I'll just sleep a few minutes,' he thought as he lay down next to Sakura and pulled the blanket over both of them.

Next thing Sasuke realized was the janitor was shaking him awake. Blinking blearily, Sasuke just stared blankly at the janitor, not one word registering in his sleep-deprived mind. He didn't remember exactly how, but Sakura was asleep in the back seat of his car as he drove her home. But she woke up in time to get out of the car. And somehow Sasuke made it back to his house without causing an accident and collapsed into his bed.

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Heck yes, I finally updated! I am seriously sorry that it took me this long to update. I always have the chapters written ahead of time. It's just the actual typing it up that's the issue. I get sidetracked from what I got on to do and end up watching Bleach or something else like that.

Also, people, if you don't review, I'll think that you don't like my story and I won't bother updating if you people don't like my story. So please, REVIEW!!!!!!!!!!!


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